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Discovery and characterization of chemical signals for citrus root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus

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Abstract

The tropical root weevil Diaprepes abbreviatus (L. 1758) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a polyphagous insect from the Caribbean Islands and an invasive insect in the southern part of the United States where it is pest of citrus crops and ornamental trees. Adults feed upon foliage where aggregation, mating and oviposition take place. Here, the headspace volatiles from Citrus macrophylla Wester (Rutaceae), D. abbreviatus adults feeding on this plant, adults alone and adult feces, were collected by aeration and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) for analysis by gas chromatography-linked mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Electrophysiological responses of weevil antennal receptors to volatile headspace extracts and synthetic analogues were recorded by gas chromatography-linked electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and electroantennograms (EAGs). Antennal responses were recorded to the monoterpenes (R)-(−)-linalool, citronellal, nerol, citral, and geraniol; all present in the headspace of C. macrophylla. Antennal responses were also recorded to carvacrol, present in the headspace of adults and adult feces. The green leaf volatiles cis-3-hexen-1-ol and trans-2-hexen-1-ol, produced by other host plants, elicited reliable responses on the D. abbreviatus antenna. When comparing EAGs between (±)-linalool and (R)-(−)-linalool, no significant difference was found; responses to (R)-(+)-citronellal were larger than for (S)-(−)-citronellal. Among the individual compounds and blends tested using an open T-track dual choice olfactometer, only the blend of (±)-linalool, cis-3-hexen-1-ol and carvacrol (source dose 25:25:2.5 μg) elicited significant attraction of females, the same blend was repellent for males. The biologically active compounds found here likely play a role in host finding by D. abbreviatus and other interactions of the insect with its hostplant.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Meiling Webb and John C. Davis for technical assistance (USDA, Beltsville, MD), Anna Hill (USDA, Ft. Pierce, FL) for rearing the insects and shipping them with foliage to Beltsville and Andrea Hernández V. for comments on D. abbreviatus behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Plant Sciences Institute, Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Blvd., Bldg. 007, Rm. 030, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Fernando Otálora-Luna, Jennifer A. Hammock & Joseph C. Dickens

  2. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory, Fort Pierce, FL, 34945, USA

    Rocco T. Alessandro & Stephen L. Lapointe

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  1. Fernando Otálora-Luna
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  2. Jennifer A. Hammock
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  3. Rocco T. Alessandro
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  4. Stephen L. Lapointe
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  5. Joseph C. Dickens
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Correspondence to Joseph C. Dickens.

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Otálora-Luna, F., Hammock, J.A., Alessandro, R.T. et al. Discovery and characterization of chemical signals for citrus root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus . Arthropod-Plant Interactions 3, 63–73 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-009-9058-7

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